Cataclysmic
by AngryPelican
Summary: After nearly three years, the gang is forced back together to stop another threat. Wutai has risen to a large military power, but will it be enough to stop this new force?


Their swords met briefly, then retracted. Two sets of eyes stared each other with an inviting look. Waiting for the other to make a move they began to circle each other. One combatant was female, the other male. The woman had long brown hair that fell to her waist. She swung her weapon, aiming at her opponents' head. Her attack was easily parried followed by a thrust to her midsection. Side-stepping the attack she found herself on the defensive. Stepping backwards she raised her sword to try to defend the onslaught.  
  
Her attacker grinned and continued striking at her. She managed to block and evade almost every assault. Almost. His weapon connected with the bicep of her left arm causing her to drop her sword.  
  
"Dammit! These things hurt like hell!" She screamed at him holding her swelling arm. She kicked her wooden practice sword away in frustration.  
  
Her spiky-haired assailant chuckled arrogantly. "You should have been faster. I didn't mean to hurt you, I guess I don't know my own strength," he replied as he mockingly flexed his arms.  
  
"Swords are for sissies anyhow," she retorted. "REAL men use their fists!" Suddenly she lunged forward and caught him in the gut with her gloved right fist. The wind was knocked out of him and it took him a second to catch his breath. Then he fell to the ground with laughter.  
  
"You sure do hate losing, don't you Tifa?"  
  
"Almost as much as you, Cloud." Tifa Lockheart walked over to him and extended her hand. "No hard feelings?"  
  
Cloud smiled. "None," he replied, grabbing her hand to hoist himself to his feet. Instead he shifted his weight and pulled her to the ground. They tumbled and wrestled on the grass for a moment. Tifa had Cloud in a headlock, which he managed to pull himself out of. He tried to roll over her and get to his feet but she shoved him to the ground and had his back pinned to grass.  
  
"Going somewhere?" She forcefully but playfully kept him down. They were both laughing now. Tifa's face was inches away from Cloud's. Strands of her flowing brown hair fell into his face so he brought his hand up to her face. Pushing the hair behind her ears with his fingers he noticed how red her face was. Suddenly both of their faces were serious.  
  
Is she blushing? He asked himself curiously. Cloud couldn't take his eyes off of hers and didn't take his hand of her face after moving her hair.  
  
Champagne. That's the color. Her eyes. They weren't brown. They weren't red. Champagne is the perfect color to describe them. Cloud noticed he was blushing too. Getting nervous he gave her another grin and looked away; his embarrassment very noticeable.  
  
Tifa accidentally let a look of disappointment slip onto her face; one she didn't want Cloud to see. She kneeled up and stood on her feet. Whatever moment we had is over now. She thought to herself grimly. Extending a hand she offered to help him up. This time, he accepted and let her pull him up.  
  
Cloud was mentally kicking himself for being such a wuss. The feeling of regret for not taking the chance when he had it ate at him like mad. Stupid, stupid, stupid. He picked up their practice swords and finally said something, breaking their silence. "You're getting pretty good with a sword, Tif'." He tossed her one which she caught with one hand. "A little more practice and you'll able to stand a chance against me," he teased.  
  
She sighed but smiled. "You're so full of yourself!" Dusting herself off and still feeling a little awkward from earlier, she started to walk inside. "I need a bath!" Glancing over her shoulder she added, "Are you coming?"  
  
A tingling sensation quickly overran Cloud's senses. A chill ran down his spine. He suddenly had a bad feeling. "Yeah," looking to the sky, "I'm coming." Shaking it off, he jogged inside.  
  
Cloud and Tifa's house was a medium size located right outside of Kalm. They were five minutes ride to town but they were far enough away not to be too bothered. It had been nearly three years since they saved the world. When asked, Cloud would just say he did his part. Even still, they were celebrities. Now, nearly three years later, they would still get a visitor wanting to meet them show up at their doorstep. It was flattering and sometimes a nuisance but they enjoyed the attention, even if they didn't outright admit it. They had two chocobo stables around the back of the house. Cloud's stable held his prized Gold S-Class racing chocobo. He named it Nimbus, a play off of his own name that he found amusing. Tifa had an intelligent black chocobo named Zangan.  
  
After Sephiroth was defeated and Holy stopped meteor, destroying Midgar in the process, everyone went their separate ways. Cloud and Tifa decided to stay together. Neither one of them had a real home to go back to. They decided it was best. They were best friends after all.  
  
Is that the only reason why, Cloud?  
  
Barret went back to Corel and started a very successful construction company. Red went back to Cosmo Canyon to lead his people. They visited Red often, nearly twice a year. Cid actually went home to Shera in Rocket town. They are to marry in four months. Yuffie went back to Wutai to grief her father, Lord Godo. She settled down a little in the last couple of years. A little. No one saw Vincent very often. Red said he stops by Cosmo Canyon every now and then but only for a short time. Cloud and Tifa briefly ran into him near the Midgar Ruins last year. He was quiet as usual but it was apparent he was glad to see them. No one knows where he lives but we all assumed it was the Shinra Mansion. For the most part, everyone kept in touch over the phone and managed to see each other every now and then.  
  
But now as Cloud stepped onto his porch he had a feeling. That same feeling he would get as they traveled the globe on adventures. Something is happening. He opened the front door and stopped in his tracks when he saw the look on Tifa's face. She held the phone to her ear and had a look of shock on her face.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
She only looked at him and continued to listen on the phone. "Ok. I understand. We'll be there by morning," she said, ending the conversation and hung up.  
  
"C'mon Tif', tell me what's going on!" He asked again, this time a little more demanding as he lost his patience.  
  
"It's Yuffie," she began. "She's dying."  
  
Author's Note – Hey there! Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'm a big fan of character development, so there will be a lot of that in this fic, as well as a lot of action. Hmm... not too much to say this time around, so please R&R and tell me what you think of the story so far. Any CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is appreciated. Thanks, see you next chapter! 


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